The Department of Infrastructure and Transport released three proposals in April 2021 for a Hahndorf interchange connecting Mount Barker Road with the South Eastern Freeway.

Mount Barker Road is a main Hills thoroughfare that cuts through Hahndorf and connects Verdun and other Hills towns to Totness, Mount Barker and Echunga, but there is a lack of an exit from Hahndorf to the freeway uptrack or an entry to the town via the freeway downtrack.

The problem has led to an influx of heavy vehicles running through the popular Hills tourist town. The 2021 Hahndorf Strategic Planning Study found an estimated 11,000 vehicles, including 480 heavy vehicles, pass through Mount Barker Road each day.

In 2020, the federal and state governments committed $250m – split 80/20 – to address the problem via the Hahndorf Township Improvements and Access Upgrade Project.

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis announced on Monday that there would be no new interchange near Hahndorf as part of the project, following community consultation which raised concerns about impacts to local businesses, environment and heritage.

The state government will instead pursue upgrades to create a full interchange at Verdun – located to the west of Hahndorf – and upgrade the existing Mount Barker interchange further up the freeway.

The location of the new Verdun and Mount Barker interchanges. Image: supplied/DIT

Those upgrades will come along with other previously flagged improvements within the original project scope, including plans to upgrade Hahndorf’s main street and the Pioneer Women’s Trial.

“A review into the project found that the original intended benefits are better achieved with the new project scope,” Koutsantonis said in a statement.

“Removing the interchange will protect the heritage and environment of the region, including much loved businesses such as Beerenberg Farm.

“Upgrades to the Verdun and Mt Barker interchanges, upgrades to Hahndorf’s picturesque main street and an extension to the iconic Pioneer Women’s Trail will go ahead as originally planned.

“This revised package of works will improve accessibility and safety for locals, tourists and heavy freight around Hahndorf and the Adelaide Hills area.”

Koutsantonis this morning told ABC Radio the total project cost would come in at less than $250m now that the Hahndorf interchange has been scrapped.

He also said he acknowledged there was still a problem with traffic flows through Hahndorf.

“There is an issue with traffic flowing on the other side of the freeway into Hahndorf and Hahndorf traffic moving back towards the South Eastern Freeway through Mount Barker,” he said.

“But I think the interchange to be built would have been counterproductive.

“I sensed from the community consultation once we got into office in March that this was not a project that was supported by our local community.

“There is still a problem I acknowledge that, but I think the solution was just too intrusive to be beneficial to the local community.”